Reviews : Race Culture and Mental Disorder PHILIP RACK Tavistock Publications, 1982; pb; pp 305
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058303000314 |
| Published date | 01 September 1983 |
| Date | 01 September 1983 |
| Author | Peter Day |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
113
refute
a
Tory
conspiracy
theory
of
the
new
Bill,
but
see
it
rather
as
an
inevtiable
consequence
of
changing
patterns
in
post
war
policing
in
terms
of
the
technological
and
organisational
base
of
police
work.
This
technological
and
organi-
sational
base
is
studied
at
first
hand,
as
are
the
reactions
of police
constables,
many
of whom
also
regret,
and
some
of whom
subvert,
the
intentions
of
increasingly
centralised
management.
Such
shifts
in
policing
continued
equally
under
a
Labour
Government
(which
established
the
Royal
Commission
on
Criminal
Procedure
from
which
the
Bill
grew.)
The
results
however
are
certainly
a
cause
for
concern.
In
Scotland,
new
powers
of
detention
came
into
effect
in
June,
1981.
Twelve months
later 21,435
detentions
had
been
made.
The
book
is
packed
with
similarly
telling
statistics;
for
instance
the
Royal
Commission
on
Criminal
Procedure
spent
over
a
million
pounds
and
cost
the
buyer
£57.60.
As
the
book
wryly
comments,
‘quantity
of research
was
not however
to
guarantee
quality
of
reasoning,
the
correctness
of deductions
ensuing
or
that
an
appropriate
perspective
or
depth
of
analysis
was
achieved’.
Such
criticisms
could
not
be
made
of Baldwm
and
Kinsey
who
score
successes
on
all
three
criteria.
As
they
say,
the
events
of
Summer
1981
have
’redefined
the
parameters
of
the
debate,
and
demand
that
policing
is
placed
squarely
in
its
social
and
political
context’ .
Even
now,
however,
less
than
2 %
of
police
budgets
are
spent
on
community
policing
initiatives.
Legislation
is
not
placing
policing
in
its
social
context.
’The
cost
of
ignoring
public
co-operation
and
consent
and
their
centrality
for
policing
have
been
only
too
clearly
demonstrated
(by
events)’.
They
are
equally
clearly
demonstrated
by
this
excellent
book.
PETER SIMPSON
Merseyside
Race
Culture
and
Mental
Disorder
PHILIP
RACK
Tavistock
Publications,
1982;
pb;
pp
305
The
author
addresses
this
book
to
helping
those
who
work
with
members
of
other
ethnic
groups
and
where
there
are
problems
involving
the
assessment
and
possible
treatment
of
mental
disorder.
He
is
a
consultant
psychiatrist
working
in
the
transcultural
psychiatry
unit
in
Bradford.
There
is
a
detailed
analvsis
of
important
ethnic
minorities
and
how
they
came
to
this
country,
whether
as
refugees
or
as
people
seeking
work
or
other
opportunities
not
available
in
their
previous
homeland.
Research
has
indicated
a
high
note
of
breakdown
among
refugees,
but
Rack
warns
that
the
use
of
similar
research
studies
with
other
groups
is
unwise.
A
significant
part
of the
book
deals
with
cultural
pitfalls
in
recognising
serious
mental
illnesses
including
mania
and
schizo-
phrenia,
and
in
different
cultural
attitudes
to
psychiatric
treatment.
We
learn
that
serious
depression
is
recognised
in
all
cultures
although
the
symptoms
may
differ
while
hysterical
pseudo-
psychosis
is
uncommon
in
European
cultures.
The
chapter
on
Race
Law
and
Psychiatry
is
dis-
appointingly
short,
but
the
book
provides
a
useful
insight
into
clinical
problems
and,
in
addition,
social
and
anthropological
evidence
is
covered.
Its
value
is
in
its
treatment
of
unfamiliar
beliefs
and
behaviour
which
can
be
understood
in
social
and
cultural
terms
and
which
may
not
constitute
evidence of mental
disorder.
PETER
DAY
University
of Hull
Policing
by
Multi-Racial
Consent:
The Handsworth
Experience
JOHN
BROWN
Bedford
Square
Press,
1982,
£5.95.
A
book
in
two
parts,
the
author
tries
to
convey
something
of
the
touch
and
feel
of
policing
in
Handsworth
and
to
explore
some
of
the
under-
lying
issues
confronting
police
and
society
in the
aftermath
of
the
1981
riots
and
the
subsequent
inquiry
by
Lord
Scarman.
Growing
concern
in
Handsworth
about
the
relationships
between
police
and
black
youth
in
1977
led
to
the
author
being
invited
to
make
a
study
and’ Shades
of Grey :
Police -
West
Indian
Relationships
in
Handsworth’ was
the
result.
Forming
the
firstpart
of
the
book,
this
study
catalogued
in
detail
the
breakdown
of trust
between
local
black
youth
and
the
police.
Unfortunately
it
made
little
comment
on
institutional
racism
and
was
unsympathetic
towards
certain
elements
described
as
’the
criminalised
Dreadlock
sub-culture’ .
Fortunately
the
second
part
of
the
book,
’Handsworth
Re-visited’,
demonstrates
perhaps
the
author’s
own
conscientisation
re-visiting
the
area
and
addressing
himself
to
the
community
based
approach
to
policing
as
expounded
by
Lord
Scarman
and
practised
by
the
now
retired
Super-
intendent
David
Webb.
The
relative
success
of
this
policy
is
well
known
and
the
book
amply
demonstrates
that police
effectiveness
cannot be
dissociated
from
good
community
relations.
Such
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